UNIVERSITY  OF 

ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

ACES 


NOTICE:  Return  or  renew  all  Library  Materials!  The  Minimum  Fee  for 
each  Lost  Book  is  $50.00. 

The  person  charging  this  material  is  responsible  for 
its  return  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  withdrawn 
on  or  before  the  Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theft,  mutilation,  and  undenting  of  books 
nary  action  and  may  result  in  dismissal  from 
To  renew  call  Telephone  Center,  333-8400 

UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS    LIBRARY    AT    URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


L161— 0-1096 


ACEb  u« 

JUN  1  6  2005 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 


BULLETIN    NO.   96. 


THE    TESTING    OF    CORN    FOR    SEED. 


BY  ALBERT  N.  HUME. 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  NOVEMBER,  1904. 


SUMMARY  OF  BULLETIN  No.  96. 

1.  It  would  be  possible  to  make  a  test  of  the  vitality  of  every  ear  of  corn  used 
for  seed  in  Illinois.  Page  401 

2.  The  testing  may  be  done  with  plates  of  sand  or  with  a  box  and  blotters,  or 
with  a  box  and  folds  of  canton  flannel.     The  method  of  doing  the  work  is  not  so 
important  as  that  it  be  done  thoroughly.  Page  403 

3.  One  man  can  test  enough  seed  corn  for  sixty-seven  acres  by  the  use  of  ten 
hours  total  time.  Page  412 

4.  It  is  estimated  that  over  $8,000,000,  might  have  been  saved  to  the  corn 
growers  of  Illinois  if  all  seed  corn  planted  in  1904  had  been  properly  tested.  Page  415 

5.  It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  Illinois  corn  growers  ought  to  be  abso- 
lutely certain  about  the  vitality  of  seed  corn  before  it  is  planted.  Page  416 


THE   TESTING   OF   CORN    FOR   SEED. 

BY  ALBERT  N.  HUME,  FIRST  ASSISTANT  IN  CROP  PRODUCTION. 

We  believe  it  would  be  possible  for  every  ear  of  corn  planted  in  Illi- 
nois to  be  tested  for  vitality.  If  an  ear  does  not  come  to  the  desired 
standard,  we  may  discard  it,  and  plant  only  seed  which  will  grow,  and 
materially  increase  the  stand  of  our  corn  crop  the  coming  year.  It  may 
seem  like  a  heavy  task  to  germinate  three  or  four  kernels  of  corn  from 
every  ear  in  a  bushel,  and  yet  two  or  three  evenings  each  week,  for  a  few 
weeks,  on  the  part  of  only  one  person,  would  test  enough  ears  to  plant 
his  own  crop  at  least.  The  kernels  could  be  placed  between  folds  of 
blotting-paper  laid  in  a  moist  box,  or  moistened  between  two  common 
dinner  plates.  It  is  not  very  difficult  to  keep  track  of  the  ear  from 
which  is  taken  each  set  of  kernels.  One  kernel  should  be  taken  from  the 
butt  of  the  ear,  at  least  one  from  the  middle,  and  one  from  the  tip.  If 
all  the  kernels  grow,  the  ear  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to  be  good, 
otherwise  it  should  be  discarded. 

Some  such  method  as  this  has  been  employed  (we  are  informed),  by 
John  R.  Clisby,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  Seed  Corn  Breeders'  Association, 
for  testing  large  quantities  of  seed  corn.  Doctor  C.  G.  Hopkins  of  our 
University,  suggested  the  idea  to  the  writer.  He  employed  it  in  testing 
every  ear  of  seed  corn  which  he  planted  on  fifty  acres  of  his  own  farm  in 
southern  Illinois.  If  these  men  can  afford  to  test  every  ear  of  corn  they 
use  for  seed,  the  same  may  be  at  least  worth  suggesting  to  farmers  in 
general  who  are  anxious  to  know  what  kind  of  corn  they  are  going  to 
plant. 

When  corn  planting  time  arrives,  the  most  serious  question  for  corn 
growers  is  that  of  securing  seed  for  their  fields  which  will  be  certain  to 
grow.  Sometimes  it  is  not  only  a  difficult  matter  to  buy  corn  for  seed,  but 
that  which  is  purchased,  even  from  the  most  trustworthy  growers,  is  likely 
to  be  more  or  less  deficient  in  vitality,  especially  under  such  conditions 
as  prevailed  last  season.  After  the  best  seed  growers  have  sold  all  their 
stock,  they  continue  to  receive  orders  which  cannot  be  supplied.  That 
a  good  deal  of  doubtful  seed  was  planted  last  spring  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  Bloomington  Weekly  Pantagraph,  of  June  3, 
1904: 

"So  far  as  this  report  shows,  the  proportion  of  replanted  seed  corn 
is  not  large,  but  it  is  large  enough  to  attract  attention  and  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  early  warnings  about  poor  seed  corn  had  foundation  in 
fact. — Mr.  Thomas  Kuntz,  living  on  the  Thomas  Janes  farm  near  Stan- 

401- 


402  BULLETIN  No.  96.  [November, 

ford,  has  to  replant  200  acres  of  corn.  It  is  reported  that  several  others 
living  in  his  neighborhood  have  so  poor  a  stand  that  they  have  to 
replant." 

"A  20-acre  piece  of  corn  on  the  Charles  Bishop  farm,  10  miles  south- 
east of  Bloomington,  was  being  replanted,  where  needed,  with  a  hoe." 

"Mr.  Albert  Lantz,  of  Downs,  has  been  replanting.  Mrs.  Esther 
Teter,  of  the  same  neighborhood,  has  been  replanting  corn." 

"Mr.  Oakley  Stillman,  of  Waynesville,  planted  both  1903  and  older 
corn,  and  the  older  corn  came  up  a  great  deal  better  than  last  year's 
seed." 

"Mr.  Mark  Gardner,  of  Towanda  township,  and  Mr.  James  Gent, 
just  across  the  line  in  Normal  township,  have  been  replanting  corn. 
Mr.  George  Purcell,  of  the  same  neighborhood,  thought  he  had  about 
a  half  stand  of  corn,  and  was  undecided  whether  he  would  replant." 

"The  Deer  Creek  correspondent  writes:  'The  seed  corn  seems  to  be 
of  poor  quality,  as  a  great  many  fanners  are  planting  again.' ' 

Tne  low  vitality  of  seed  corn  the  past  season  was  no  doubt  caused 
very  largely  by  freezing  weather  while  the  corn  was  either  still  in  the 
field  or  not  sufficiently  cured  to  withstand  the  low  temperature.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  fall  of  1903  was  an  exceptional  one  in  this  respect, 
and  that  our  recent  experience  may  not  be  repeated.  There  is  no  way 
to  guard  against  such  falling  temperatures,  however.  Moreover,  if  a 
season  comes  when  our  seed  corn  is  frozen  before  it  is  put  into  storage, 
there  is  no  way  to  correct  the  disastrous  effects  even  with  the  most 
modern  means  of  storage,  unless  we  have  some  method  of  sorting  out 
the  ears  which  are  unfit  for  seed.  Therefore  we  say  that  the  matter  of 
selecting  and  testing  seed  is  at  present  of  foremost  importance  to  every 
corn  grower. 

In  suggesting  the  plan  of  testing  each  ear  of  seed  corn,  we  do  not 
mean  to  insist  that  every  ear  must  be  tested  every  season  and  in  every 
place.  We  do  insist,  however,  that  this  would  be  within  easy  range  of 
possibility,  as  the  following  pages  will  show.  Before  time  for  planting, 
corn  growers  should  test  a  sufficient  amount  of  their  stock  of  seed,  ear 
by  ear,  so  that  they  will  know  what  they  have  on  hand.  It  may  or  may 
not  be  necessary  thus  to  test  the  entire  stock,  but  that  it  would  have 
been  an  extremely  profitable  procedure  the  past  season  for  most  farmers, 
can  scarcely  be  doubted. 

It  is  not  sufficient  to  accept  the  warrant  of  the  dealer  from  whom  the 
seed  is  purchased,  however  trustworthy  he  may  be.  It  is  not  possible 
for  those  who  handle  seed  on  the  largest  scale  to  give  the  closest  atten- 
tion to  its  quality.  The  following  devices  for  testing  are  suggested  as 
being  obtainable  for  the  general  farmer. 


1904.]  THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOB  SEED.  403 

METHODS  OF  TESTING. 

There  are  several  methods  of  testing  corn,  all  of  which  depend  upon 
the  same  principle,  namely,  that  of  supplying  sufficient  moisture  and 
warmth  to  the  kernels  to  cause  them  to  sprout.  The  traditional  ways 
of  determining  the  quality  of  seeds,  such  as  floating  them  in  water,  or 
heating  them  until  they  pop,  or  breaking  them  and  noting  the  fracture, 
or  cutting  them  and  noting  the  appearance  of  the  inside,  cannot  be 
called  tests,  although  it  must  be  granted  that  by  practice  some  corn 
growers  have  become  fairly  expert  in  telling  whether  or  not  a  given 
sample  of  corn  will  grow.  Such  methods  are  not  only  less  accurate,  but 
if  carefully  performed  require  as  much  or  more  time  than  need  be  taken 
to  make  a  germination  test. 

One  of  the  best  and  simplest  ways  of  sprouting  seed  is  to  take  a  com- 
mon dinner  plate  and  fill  it  nearly  full  of  sand.  The  sand  should  be  as 
clean  and  white  as  possible.  Such  sand  will  be  less  likely  to  mould  than 
that  which  has  much  organic  matter  in  it.  This  makes  it  much  more 
desirable  for  use  in  testing,  for  moulds  interfere  with  the  germination  of 
the  corn.  After  the  sand  is  placed  on  the  plate,  it  should  be  moistened. 
This  can  best  be  done  with  a  small  sprinkler,  but  if  one  is  not  at  hand, 
the  water  may  be  poured  carefully  out  of  any  small  vessel  or  sprinkled 
with  the  hand.  After  sprinkling  the  water  on  the  sand,  it  is  well  to  mix 
the  sand  with  the  fingers  until  it  is  all  equally  moist.  Do  not  saturate 
the  sand  with  water.  Special  caution  is  necessary  in  this  respect,  for  if 
the  sand  is  too  wet,  the  corn  will  fail  to  germinate  for  lack  of  air.  Nu- 
merous failures  have  been  reported  in  testing  corn  on  plates  of  sand,  the 
most  of  which  probably  resulted  from  having  the  sand  too  wet. 

Having  the  sand  properly  placed  and  moistened,  the  kernels  to  be 
tested  should  be  pressed  into  the  sand,  small  end  down,  in  order  as  they 
are  taken  from  the  ear.  While  taking  the  kernels  from  the  ear,  hold  it  in 
the  left  hand  and  remove  with  a  pocket-knife  or  a  pair  of  small,  strong 
tweezers,  a  kernel  two  inches  from  the  butt  of  the  ear.  A  little  practice 
will  make  it  easy  to  remove  a  kernel  with  the  knife  and  hold  it  between 
the  thumb  and  the  knife  blade  until  it  is  put  in  place  in  the  sand.  Then 
turn  the  ear  one-fourth  around  and  take  another  kernel  in  the  same 
manner,  say  two  inches  nearer  the  tip;  then  turn  the  ear  the  same  dis- 
tance again  and  take  another  kernel  two  inches  nearer  the  tip.  For  the 
fourth  kernel,  turn  the  ear  again  one-fourth  around  and  take  the  kernel 
about  two  inches  from  the  tip.  Four  kernels  is  a  large  enough  number 
to  take  from  one  ear  for  practical  work.  If  they  are  properly  taken, 
they  represent  both  ends  and  all  sides  of  the  ear,  so  far  as  vitality  is  con- 
cerned. The  four  kernels  from  each  ear  must  be  placed  in  a  separate 
group,  and  it  is  best  that  the  group  be  marked  or  numbered  to  corre- 


404  BULLETIN  No.  96.  [November, 

spond  with  the  number  of  the  ear  from  whence  the  kernels  were  taken. 
(Plate  1,  Fig.  1.)  For  this  plan,  it  is  necessary  that  the  ears  be  placed  in 
regular  order,  as  the  kernels  are  removed  from  them.  A  good  device  for 
arranging  the  ears  in  regular  order  is  shown  in  Plate  2.  The  frame 
from  which  the  photograph  was  taken  is  in  use  at  the  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station. 

It  does  not  take  a  mechanic  of  very  great  skill  to  make  the  frame. 
It  will  be  noted  from  Plate  2  that  the  ends  of  the  ears  when  they  are  put 
into  place,  rest  upon  small  iron  rods,  and  that  the  ears  are  kept  from  roll- 
ing sidewise  by  two  small  wires  on  each  side.  It  would  be  possible  to 
make  the  divisions  for  the  separate  ears  out  of  lumber,  but  the  wires  are 
lighter  in  weight- and  cheaper.  Moreover,  they  do  not  prevent  the  circu- 
lation of  air  between  the  ears  of  corn,  which  in  some  cases  is  an  advan- 
tage, and  they  do  not  furnish  a  harbor  for  mice  and  rats. 

THE  GERMINATING  ROOM. 

After  the  kernels  of  corn  are  all  placed  as  described  above,  they 
should  be  covered  by  turning  a  second  plate  over  them  to  prevent  too 
rapid  evaporation  of  the  moisture  from  the  sand.  (Plate  1,  Fig.  2.) 
They  may  then  be  left  in  a  warm  temperature  to  sprout.  As  fast  as  the 
kernels  are  well  germinated,  they  should  be  removed  from  the  sand,  and 
a  careful  record  taken  of  the  number  which  have  sprouted.  It  has  been 
proved  by  experiment  that  the  best  temperature  for  germinating  corn  is 
77  degrees  F.  This  is  only  a  little  higher  than  the  temperature  of  an 
ordinary  living-room.  More  harm  will  result  from  a  considerable  de- 
crease of  temperature  than  from  a  slight  increase. 

On  the  average  farm  it  is  not  necessary  to  construct  a  special  room 
for  germinating.  Usually  the  plates  of  corn  will  germinate  well  if  put 
beside  a  stove,  taking  care  that  they  do  not  get  too  hot.  The  plates 
must  be  inspected  each  day  after  they  are  put  into  the  germinating  room, 
and  if  the  sand  is  becoming  dry,  add  a  little  water.  The  amount  to  be  put 
on  must  be  determined  by  practice,  for  it  will  vary  with  the  kind  of  sand 
used  and  with  the  humidity  of  the  room.  If  one  is  fortunate  enough  to 
have  furnace  heat  in  the  cellar,  he  will  probably  have  a  place  near  the 
furnace  where  the  heat  will  be  about  right  for  germinating  corn.  Such 
heat  was  utilized  by  Dr.  C.  G.  Hopkins,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  in 
testing  the  corn  for  his  own  farm  in  southern  Illinois,  with  entirely 
satisfactory  results. 

Plate  4  shows  a  sort  of  incubator  which  served  as  a  germinating 
chamber  at  the  seed  house  of  Mr.  John  R.  Clisby.  The  heat  was  fur- 
nished from  below  by  a  gasoline  stove.  A  tank  of  water  was  set  on  the 
gasoline  stove  and  the  rising  steam  distributed  the  heat  and  prevented 


1904.] 


THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOR  SEED. 


405 


FIG.  1. 


FIG.  2. 

PLATE  1.     FIG.  1  SHOWS  GROUPS  OP  KERNELS  FROM  SINGLE  EARS,  READY 
TO  BE  PUT  INTO  THE  GERMINATING  ROOM. 

FIG.  2.    THE  SAME  KERNELS,  GERMINATED,  READY  TO  COUNT. 


406 


BULLETIN  No.  96. 


[November, 


PLATE  2.     SHOWS  THE  DEVICE  FOR  ARRANGING  EARS  IN  REGULAR  ORDER  AFTER 
HAVING  KERNELS  REMOVED. 


1904.3  THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOR  SEED.  407 


PLATE  3.    THE  GERMINATING  ROOM  NOW  IN  USE  AT  THE  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 


408  BULLETIN  No.  96.  [November, 

the  too  rapid  drying  of  the  corn  kernels.  The  arrangement  was  not 
entirely  satisfactory,  inasmuch  as  the  steam  warped  the  lumber  of  which 
the  frame  was  made.  An  ordinary  incubator,  such  as  is  used  for  hatch- 
ing eggs,  would  doubtless  answer  the  purpose  of  a  germinating  chamber.* 

TESTING  WITH  PLATES  AND  SAND. 

The  method  of  using  the  plates  of  sand  for  germinating  corn  is  very 
practicable  in  that  any  one  can  use  it  without  purchasing  any  new 
material.  Dinner  plates  are  at  hand  on  any  farm,  and  sand  may  usually 
be  had  from  the  roadway  or  river  bottom.  But  where  there  is  much 
testing  to  do  the  method  is  inconvenient,  and  in  some  cases  unprofitable, 
from  the  fact  that  it  takes  too  much  time.  Time  is  lost  in  filling  the 
plates  with  sand  and  in  gauging  the  proper  amount  of  moisture,  when  it 
must  be  renewed  from  time  to  time.  The  actual  time  used  in  testing 
several  lots  of  corn  by  this  method  is  shown  in  Table  2. 

TESTING  WITH  Box  AND  CLOTH. 

One  of  the  quickest  and  most  convenient  devices  for  making  germi- 
nation tests  is  that  commonly  known  as  the  Geneva  Tester,  so  called 
because  it  was  first  used  by  Professor  Goff  at  the  Geneva  Station  in 
New  York.  (Plate  5.)  This  apparatus  consists  of  a  water-tight  box 
across  which  are  extended  folds  of  canton  flannel.  These  folds  are  sus- 
pended from  wires,  as  shown  in  Plate  5,  and  can  be  removed  to  dry  when 
not  in  use.  The  box  must  be  filled  to  the  depth  of  about  an  inch  with 
water,  so  that  the  folds  of  canton  flannel  will  hang  down  enough  to 
touch  the  water,  and  thus  be  moistened  by  capillarity.  The  box  should 
be  about  12  by  24  inches  and  4  or  5  inches  deep.  It  may  be  made  of 
wood,  galvanized  iron,  tin,  or  copper,  and  the  wires  can  be  cut  from 
ordinary  smooth  galvanized  fence  wire.  When  kernels  of  corn  are  to  be 
tested  in  this  germinating  apparatus,  they  are  removed  from  the  ears 
as  described  above,  placed  between  the  folds,  in  regular  order  (Plate  5) 
and  the  folds  closed  together.  If  it  is  thought  best,  the  groups  of  ker- 
nels from  the  separate  ears  may  be  numbered  with  slips  of  paper,  as 
shown  in  Plate  5.  This  numbering  will  not  be  absolutely  necessary  if 
proper  care  is  used  to  have  the  groups  of  kernels  correspond  to  the  ears 
of  corn  from  whence  they  came.  After  the  kernels  are  put  in  place,  the 


*The  germinating  room  in  use  at  the  Experiment  Station  is  shown  in  Plate  3. 
Around  the  lower  part  of  the  wall  are  coils  of  steam  pipes  by  which  the  room  may 
be  kept  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  desired  temperature.  Shelves  are  arranged 
around  the  three  sides  of  the  room,  upon  which  are  set  the  plates  of  corn  for 
germination. 

The  improved  standard  germinating  chamber,  used  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  is  described  in  Circular  No.  34,  and  Circular  No.  34  (revised)  of  the 
Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 


1904.1 


THE  TESTING  OP  CORN  FOR  SEED. 


409 


FIG.  1. 


FIG.  2. 

PLATE  5.  FIG.  1  SHOWS  GROUPS  OF  KERNELS  FROM  SINGLE  EARS,  READY  TO 
BE  PLACED  IN  THE  GERMINATING  ROOM. 

FIG.  2.  SHOWS  THE  SAME  KERNELS,  SPROUTED. 


410 


BULLETIN  No.  96. 


[November, 


PLATE  4.     AN  INCUBATOR  USED  FOR  GERMINATING  CORN. 
PROVIDES  SOURCE  OF  HEAT. 


A  GASOLINE  STOVE 


PLATE  6.     SHOWING  THE  WOODEN  Box,  BLOTTING  PAPERS,  WIRE  GAUZE,  AND 
GROUP  OF  KERNELS  ALREADY  SPROUTED. 


1904.]  THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOR  SEED.  411 

folds  are  drawn  together  at  the  top,  the  lid  closed  upon  the  box,  and  the 
apparatus  left  until  the  kernels  germinate.  When  put  into  this  box,  the 
kernels  will  not  usually  suffer  for  moisture  during  the  length  of  time  of 
one  test.  This  is  one  of  the  advantages  of  the  Geneva  Tester  over  the 
plate  of  sand  where  the  moisture  may  need  renewing  each  day,  or  even 
oftener.  The  folds  are  easily  opened  when  it  is  necessary  to  inspect  the 
kernels  to  count  the  number  which  have  germinated.  Some  care  is 
necessary  in  lifting  the  tester,  that  the  groups  of  kernels  be  not  jarred 
from  their  places. 


TESTING  WITH  Box  AND  BLOTTERS. 

Another  plan  is  to  use  a  small  box,  with  layers  of  moistened  blotting- 
paper  inside.  (Plate  6.)  This  device  consists  first  of  a  small  box, 
say  a  foot  long,  six  inches  wide,  and  five  inches  deep.  The  bottom  of  the 
box  should  be  made  water-tight;  if  necessary,  the  cracks  may  be  stopped 
with  white  lead  or  strips  of  cloth  or  asbestos.  The  kernels  of  corn  are 
kept  moist  by  putting  water  into  the  box  to  a  depth  of  one-half  inch  more 
or  less.  Something  must  be  laid  in  the  box  to  hold  the  first  blotter  up  out 
of  the  water.  Small  sticks  laid  crosswise  of  the  box  will  answer  this 
purpose. 

The  blotting  papers  should  be  moistened  as  they  are  placed  in  the 
box.  When  the  first  blotter  is  laid  in,  either  small  sticks  or  wire  cloth 
are  put  down  on  top  of  it  to  mark  the  spaces  for  the  separate  groups  of 
kernels.  These  spaces  must  correspond  to  the  spaces  in  the  frame  where 
the  ears  of  corn  are  placed  (Plate  2).  After  one  layer  of  blotting-paper 
is  covered  with  the  kernels,  another  similar  layer  may  be  put  down  on 
top  of  the  first,  and  so  on  until  the  box  is  filled,  or  until  the  desired  amount 
of  corn  has  been  put  in. 

Like  the  plate  and  sand  method  and  the  wooden  box  Geneva  Tester, 
this  device  is  easy  to  use  on  the  ordinary  farm  because  it  does  not  necessi- 
tate the  buying  of  any  expensive  apparatus  or  material.  The  box  shown 
in  Plate  6  was  made  to  order,  but  it  would  be  possible  to  substitute  any 
ordinary  box  which  is  reasonably  close  at  the  joints.  If  small  sticks  are 
substituted  for  the  wire  gauze,  it  will  only  be  necessary  to  purchase  the 
pieces  of  blotting-paper,  which  can  be  secured  at  a  merely  nominal  cost 
of  almost  any  printer  or  stationer.  Of  course  the  wooden  box  will 
sometimes  warp  and  begin  to  leak,  making  it  somewhat  difficult  to  keep 
the  blotters  from  becoming  too  dry.  Where  it  is  desired  to  use  a  tester 
for  any  large  amount  of  work,  it  is  usually  best  to  have  the  box  made  of 
copper. 


412 


BULLETIN  No.  96. 


[November, 


We  have  gone  into  the  matter  of  explaining  the  devices  for  testing 
seed  corn  at  some  length  from  the  practical  standpoint,  in  the  hope  that 
the  greatest  number  of  corn  growers  will  arrange  to  test  seed  by  one  of 
the  methods.  The  method  of  doing  the  work  is  not  of  such  paramount 
importance  as  that  it  be  done,  and  done  thoroughly. 

In  advocating  the  testing,  when  necessary,  of  every  ear  of  corn  in- 
tended for  seed,  we  have  been  met  with  the  objection  that  "it  takes  too 
much  time."  We  have  therefore  made  some  careful  computations  along 
this  line.  In  Table  1  we  have  recorded  the  time  in  minutes  used  in 
testing  each  of  nine  one-bushel  lots  of  corn.  Column  1  gives  the  number 
of  the  lot,  column  2,  the  number  of  the  ears  in  the  measured  bushel,  and 
column  3,  the  total  time  used  in  testing  four  kernels  from  each  ear,  in  the 
Geneva  Tester,  with  which  we  have  been  able  so  far  to  do  our  quickest 
work  in  testing. 

TABLE  1. 


Number  of  lot. 

Number  of  ears  in  bushel 
tested. 

Total  time  used  in  testing. 

1 

100 

45  minutes. 

2 

98 

44  minutes. 

3 

75 

34  minutes. 

4 

116 

56  minutes. 

5 

80 

48  minutes. 

6 

77 

38  minutes. 

7 

95 

42  minutes. 

8 

96 

46  minutes. 

9 

126 

48  minutes. 

Total  time  for  9  bushels,  401  minutes. 
Average  time  for  1  bushel,  45  minutes. 


From  the  above  table,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  total  time  used  in  test- 
ing 9  bushels  of  corn  of  various  sized  ears  was  401  minutes.  It  takes 
longer  to  test  a  bushel  of  small  ears  than  a  bushel  of  large  ones,  but  the 
average  time  per  bushel  is  45  minutes.  At  this  rate,  counting  only  5 
acres  to  one  bushel  of  seed,  one  man,  in  10  hours'  total  time,  can  test 
every  ear  of  seed  corn  required  to  plant  67  acres.  Of  course  the  work 
must  be  done  before  planting  time.  It  is  suggested  that  winter  evenings 
might  profitably  be  employed  in  this  way,  but  if  the  work  is  not  done  in 
the  evenings,  let  it  be  done  by  daylight  as  part  of  the  regular  work.  At 
all  events,  do  not  permit  it  to  be  overlooked,  especially  when  we  have 
such  seed  corn  as  much  of  that  planted  in  1904. 

It  has  already  been  suggested  that  it  takes  more  time  to  test  corn  in 
plates  of  sand  than  in  the  Geneva  apparatus.  Table  2  is  offered  to  show 
the  time  used  in  testing  by  this  method. 


1904.]  THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOR  SEED.  413 

TABLE  2. 


Number  of  lot. 

Number  of  ears  tested  in 
measured  bushel. 

Time  required  for  testing 
in  sand. 

29 
30 
31 
32 
33 

100 
98 
75 
88 
92 

80  minutes. 
85  minutes. 
63  minutes. 
75  minutes. 
72  minutes. 

Total  time  required  to  test  5  bushels,  375  minutes. 
Average  time  required  to  test  1  bushel,  75  minutes. 

As  seen  by  the  above,  the  average  time  for  testing  in  sand  is  75 
minutes  per  bushel  as  against  45  minutes  per  bushel  with  the  Geneva 
Tester.  It  is  apparent  that  any  one  who  has  any  amount  of  testing  to 
do,  can  well  afford  to  make  a  Geneva  Tester  or  have  one  made,  rather 
than  use  sand. 

It  is  sometimes  urged  that  one  who  has  had  sufficient  practice  can 
select  seed  corn  which  will  grow,  simply  by  inspecting  it,  and  that  testing 
is  unnecessary. 

There  are  many  persons  who  can  tell,  with  some  accuracy,  by  simple 
examination,  whether  or  not  corn  will  grow,  but  we  do  not  believe  that 
inspection  can  be  so  accurate  as  testing.  Moreover,  the  time  used  in 
carefully  inspecting  each  ear.  in  a  given  lot  of  corn  is  usually  as  great 
or  greater  than  the  time  used  in  testing  the  same  ears.  The  time  required 
depends  much  upon  the  care  with  which  the  work  is  done.  If  four  ker- 
nels are  taken  from  each  ear  of  corn  and  each  kernel  examined  carefully 
and  the  germ  inspected,  it  will  require  more  time  than  it  will  to  test  the 
kernels  in  the  Geneva  apparatus.  The  average  time  used  at  the  Station 
for  inspecting  thirteen  bushels  of  seed  corn  with  reasonable  care,  was  31 
minutes  per  bushel.  With  two  lots,  when  four  kernels  were  removed 
from  each  ear  and  carefully  examined,  the  average  time  required  was  44 
minutes  per  bushel.  The  average  time  for  testing  these  same  two  lots 
in  the  Geneva  Tester  was  32  minutes  per  bushel.  Even  when  the  time 
element  is  taken  into  consideration,  the  evidence  is  all  in  favor  of  care- 
fully tested  seed  for  the  corn  grower,  as  opposed  to  that  selected 
mechanically. 

The  following  table  shows  the  results  which  were  actually  attained 
with  37  different  lots  of  seed  corn. 

Eighteen  of  these  lots  of  corn  came  to  the  Experiment  Station  from 
progressive  farmers,  and  nineteen  came  from  the  most  trustworthy  corn 
specialists  to  be  found!  In  the  table  given,  column  1  indicates  simply 
the  number  of  the  lot  of  corn  tested.  Column  2  gives  the  number  of 
ears  in  that  particular  lot,  and  column  3  indicates  the  percent  of  the  corn, 
taken  just  as  it  came  to  the  Station,  which  germinated.  This  test  was 
simply  a  composite  one.  Three  kernels  were  taken  from  each  ear,  one 


414 


BULLETIN  No.  96. 


[November, 


from  the  butt,  one  from  the  middle,  and  one  from  the  tip.  After  three 
kernels  were  thus  taken  from  every  ear  in  the  entire  lot,  they  were 
mixed  together,  and  100  of  them  were  selected  at  random.  These  100 
kernels  were  germinated  and  the  resulting  percent  was  put  into  column  3. 
After  this  composite  test  was  made,  every  ear  in  each  lot  was  tested,  by 
taking  four  kernels  from  an  ear  and  germinating  them  in  sand.  In  case 
any  one  of  the  four  kernels  did  not  grow,  the  ear  from  which  it  came  was 
discarded  as  unfit  for  seed.  The  number  of  ears  thus  discarded  is  recorded 
in  column  4.  The  remainder  were  reserved  as  being  good  for  seed. 
Then,  in  order  to  determine  whether  such  testing  really  accomplishes 
the  desired  object,  composite  tests  were  made  of  the  "good  corn,"  which 
was  reserved  for  seed,  and  of  the  "poor  corn,"  which  was  discarded. 
The  percents  for  the  various  lots  as  derived  from  these  tests  are  recorded 

in  columns  5  and  6. 

TABLE  3. 


No.  of  test. 

Number  of  ears 
tested. 

Composite  test 
of  all  ears. 

Number  of 
ears  discarded. 

Percent  of  germination 
after  testing 

Good  corn. 

Poor  corn. 

1 

41 

91.0 

11 

98.9 

82.0 

2 

439 

82.5 

144 

97.0 

68.0 

3 

81 

87.0 

12 

99.0 

72.2 

4 

371 

84.0 

95 

95.0 

55.0 

5 

34 

78.0 

18 

97.9 

72.2 

6 

330 

95.0 

51 

98.0 

80.0 

7 

433 

94.0 

38 

100.0 

72.0 

8 

414 

83.0 

124 

95.0 

63.0 

9 

552 

77.0 

299 

86.0 

67.0 

10 

389 

97.0 

31 

100.0 

85.5 

11 

88 

96.0 

14 

97.0 

80.9 

12 

80 

82.0 

18 

94.0 

70.8 

13 

298 

93.0 

44 

98.0 

71.0 

14 

89 

93.0 

10 

97.0 

66.6 

15 

60 

84.0 

22 

96.0 

77.0 

16 

18 

88.8 

5 

89.7 

66.6 

17 

43 

83.0 

20 

90.0 

40.0 

18 

451 

96.0                 33 

99.0 

68.0 

19 

332                 93.0 

88 

98.0 

81.0 

20 

456                  62.0 

295 

93.0 

30.0 

21 

278 

74.0 

164 

86.0 

36.0 

22 

109 

87.0 

21 

97.0 

71.4 

23 

45 

83.0 

17 

97.6 

75.0 

24 

40 

51.0 

28 

97.2 

52.3 

25 

73 

89.0 

20 

95.0 

48.0 

26 

144 

92.0 

36 

95.0 

81.0 

27 

100 

93.0 

25 

97.0 

69.8 

28 

98 

91.0 

18 

95.0 

68.9 

29 

75 

94.0 

17 

95.0 

76.0 

30 

88 

87.0 

26 

96.0 

66.6 

31 

92 

93.0 

13 

93.0 

77.0 

32 

116 

90.0 

39 

*     93.0 

70.0 

33 

80 

86.0                  34 

83.0 

75.0 

34 

77 

68.0                  41 

74.0 

42.0 

35 

95 

74.0                  54 

90.0 

57.0 

36 

96 

64.0                  63 

80.0 

51.0 

37 

126 

97.0 

20 

96.0 

60.3 

Averages, 

85.19 

94.00 

66.11 

1904.]  THE  TESTING  OF  CORN  FOR  SEED.  415 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  percent  of  germination  of  the  "good  corn" 
in  column  5,  is  higher  in  every  instance  than  the  percent  of  germination 
of  the  "poor  corn,"  in  column  6;  also  that  there  are  only  two  instances — 
that  of  test  number  33,  composed  of  80  ears,  and  that  of  test  number  37, 
composed  of  126  ears — in  which  the  percent  of  germination  for  the  good 
corn  is  not  as  high  or  higher  than  that  of  the  composite  sample  from  which 
it  came.  This  evidence  therefore  practically  all  goes  to  indicate  that  the 
plan  is  effective.  In  other  words,  having  given  a  number  of  ears  of  seed 
corn,  it  is  possible  to  determine  with  accuracy  which  of  those  ears  have  the 
highest  average  percent  of  germinable  kernels. 

The  average  of  all  the  tests  of  "good  corn"  in  column  5  is  94.00  per- 
cent. The  average  of  the  composite  tests  of  the  lots  of  corn  from  whence 
those  good  ears  were  taken,  is  85.19  percent.  The  original  lots  were 
made  up  of  seed  corn,  which  was  carefully  selected  by  ordinary  methods 
before  it  came  to  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station.  The  difference 
between  94.00  and  85.19  is  8.81  percent,  in  favor  of  the  "good  corn," 
which  is  clearly  attributable  to  the  fact  that  every  ear  was  tested  and 
only  the  "good  ones"  reserved.  That  this  difference  is  correct  is  fur- 
ther attested  by  noticing  the  average  percent  of  the  "poor"  lots  of  corn 
in  column  6,  which  is  66.11.  Evidently  from  this,  no  mistake  was  made 
in  the  kind  of  ears  discarded. 

It  is  fair  to  assume,  according  to  the  above  figures,  that  the  seed  corn 
planted  in  Illinois  during  the  spring  of  1904,  might  have  been  at  least 
8.81  percent  better  than  it  was.  Although  it  does  not  follow  absolutely, 
it  is  not  far  from  correct  to  reason  that  the  crop  is  8.81  percent  lighter 
than  it  might  have  been,  had  the  best  seed  attainable  been  used.  This 
is  a  conservative  estimate  considering  that  the  original  lots  of  corn  above 
were  probably  better  than  the  average  seed  corn  planted  in  Illinois  in 
1904. 

Granting,  then,  that  8.81  percent  of  the  seed  planted  failed  to  grow 
and  that  there  were  1,000,000  bushels  of  corn  used  for  seed  in  Illinois, 
the  amount  of  corn  planted  which  did  not  grow  was  88,100  bushels. 
Valuing  it  at  $2.00  per  bushel,  it  represented  a  dead  loss  of  $176,200. 
This  amount  alone  would  pay  for  testing  practically  every  ear  of  corn 
planted  in  Illinois,  counting  labor  at  $1.50  a  day.  The  great  loss,  how- 
ever, consists  in  the  shortage  of  the  crop  due  to  this  poor  seed.  The 
valuation  of  the  corn  crop  in  Illinois,  as  given  in  the  year  book  of  the 
Department  'of  Agriculture  for  the  year  1903,  was  $95,000,000.  Count- 
ing the  proportionate  loss  therefore,  which  might  have  been  prevented 
by  proper  testing  of  seed  corn,  we  have  $8,369,500.  The  data  herein 
presented  certainly  justifies  the  conclusion  that  such  a  sum  could  have 
been  saved  by  Illinois  corn  growers  the  past  year  by  properly  testing 
seed. 


416  BULLETIN  No.  96.  [November, 

To  bring  the  matter  as  closely  home  as  possible  to  the  individual 
farmer,  suppose  that  he  raises  80  acres  of  corn,  and  that  his  normal  yield  is 
60  bushels  per  acre,  giving  a  total  of  4,800  bushels.  His  average  loss  this 
year  was  8.81  percent  of  that  amount,  or  422.88  bushels.  Valuing  this 
at  40  cents  a  bushel,  we  have  a  loss  of  $169.15  due  to  the  use  of  untested 
seed.  This  amount  would  pay  the  necessary  wages  for  testing  every  ear 
of  seed  corn  which  would  be  used  on  7,555  acres  of  land,  counting  the 
wages  at  $1.50  a  day.  These  figures  ought  to  appeal  not  so  much  to  our 
seed  dealers  as  to  farmers  and  corn  growers.  They  are  the  people 
directly  interested. 

Having  determined  the  data  above,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  assert 
that  every  corn  grower  ought  to  know  beyond  any  peradventure,  just 
what  kind  of  seed  corn  he  pours  into  his  planter  boxes  at  planting  time. 
We  do  not  mean  to  urge  anything  unreasonable,  and  we  are  not  doing  so. 
If  we  were  to  test  say  1,000  ears  of  seed  corn  from  a  seed  house  and 
found  them  to  grow  perfectly,  we  would  be  ready  to  admit  that  the  next 
1,000  ears  were  reasonably  safe  for  seed,  providing  they  were  the  same 
kind  of  ears,  kept  under  the  same  conditions  as  the  first  1,000  had  been; 
but  we  would  not  take  too  much  for  granted. 

The  object  toward  which  we  are  all  striving,  is  that  agriculture  be 
made  an  exact  science.  The  testing  of  each  ear  of  seed  corn,  whenever 
necessary,  will  certainly  be  a  considerable  stride  in  that  direction. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


